


A Day Off

by driftingskies237



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: And best friends, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Picnics, Queen Gwen (Merlin), Teasing, they are just cuties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/driftingskies237/pseuds/driftingskies237
Summary: Merlin and Gwen shirk their duties for some much needed friend time.
Relationships: Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 106





	A Day Off

“Merlin, Arthur’s giving you the day off,” Gwen declares, having just entered through the chamber doors. She looks regal and impressive standing in front of Merlin. Her stunning purple dress seems to float along the floorboards, curly hair framing her face perfectly.

Arthur, who sits at his desk pondering over some documents, stares at her with confusion.

“I am?” Arthur questions, pulling a face.

“He is?” Merlin repeats from his spot on the floor polishing Arthur’s armor.

Gwen tilts her head up. “Yes, you are, Arthur. I have important duties to attend to today, and I need Merlin’s assistance for the time being.”

“You know, there are much more _competent_ servants around to help,” Arthur says, smirking at Merlin’s glowering expression.

“Merlin knows all the ins and outs of the castle the best. Besides, with how much you complain about him, wouldn’t you like to spend a few hours without him?”

This time, Merlin is the one smirking at Arthur.

“I mean, well…”

“Perfect!” Gwen smiles, gesturing for Merlin to follow her. Merlin stands up, momentarily forgetting about the armor sitting on his lap. It crashes to the ground, causing Arthur to flinch. Merlin sends him a sheepish smile, while Arthur glares daggers at his servant.

“I’ll come by to clean that up later, _sire_ ,” Merlin teases. “If you can stand my presence, that is.”

Arthur picks up an empty goblet as if to throw it but stops when Gwen gives him a stern look. He drops it back down on the table with a hollow thump, then runs his hand over his face.

“You better be back here tonight to attend to me, Merlin.”

“You can count on it, sire!”

With that, Merlin and Gwen head out, keeping up their normal pretenses until they get a ways down the hall. Then, the pair of them collapse into giggles.

“You were great!” Merlin compliments. “I can’t believe Arthur didn’t even question you.”

“Of course he didn’t. I’m the Queen. He knows better by now.”

They continue giggling for a few moments. Although Merlin knows that Gwen belongs as Queen of Camelot, he also misses servant Gwen sometimes. He misses the freedom they had to joke around with each other, to go to parties after hours with the other servants, and to tell stories of the latest gossip for hours on end. That’s why days like these are so important for them both. They established these days long ago after missing seeing each other terribly. It was Gwen’s idea, of course, and a brilliant one at that. They use these days to catch up with each other as friends, not as Queen and servant. It almost feels like old times again.

“Picnic today?” Merlin asks.

“Definitely,” Gwen confirms. “I had the kitchen prepare us a feast. I even got the cook to prepare your favorite tarts.”

“You are _truly_ a blessing, Guinevere.”

“Well, I expect plenty of servant gossip in return. Is Claire still being fought over by her two suitors?”

“It’s _**three**_ now.”

Gwen laughs, offering Merlin her arm. Merlin loops their arms together, grinning down at Gwen. No one questions them as they head out of Camelot to the edge of the forest. They go to a spot that Merlin discovered a while ago, perfectly hidden by looming trees and beautiful flowers. It’s a gorgeous day outside, the sun peeking out from behind the clouds for the first time in days. If it weren’t for Gwen, Merlin muses, he would be stuck inside right now tending to every whim of Arthur. Merlin hopes that the prat can get by without him for the day without getting too grumpy.

“And then, Lord Richard complained about how all servants come from filth,” Gwen continues, causing Merlin to snort. “You should have _seen_ his face when I told him that I used to be a servant! It turned as red as a tomato. He couldn’t stutter out apologies fast enough.”

“And what did you say?” Merlin chortles, biting into another pastry.

“’Now Camelot knows what you truly think of their Queen.’”

“Amazing. I would have paid to see that. Where was Arthur during all of this?”

“The two of you were out on a hunt that afternoon to prepare for the feast.”

Merlin groans, “Oh, now I remember. It was about to pour rain that day, and I warned Arthur that there was a storm coming. As usual, he didn’t listen. An hour later, we were completely soaked through. Then, he had the audacity to get mad at _me_ for not stopping him from going!”

“That’s Arthur for you,” Gwen chuckles. “I noticed he’s been in a throwing mood lately.”

“Ugh, I know! The other day, he threw a goblet at me that was full, then made me clean it up! Luckily, it didn’t’ come even close to hitting me.”

Gwen giggles, but then trails off into thought. Merlin nudges her shoulder to get her attention. She looks over at him, sun making a halo around her head. “What are you thinking about?”

“I just…” Gwen begins. “I miss this. Our friendship.”

“We’re still friends, Gwen,” Merlin promises, “but I know what you mean. It’s just not….”

“The same.”

“Exactly. But it’s okay, really. You make a wonderful Queen, Gwen, and I wouldn’t want to change that for the world, even if I do miss our antics as servants.”

Gwen hums. “Thank you, Merlin.”

“Besides, now that you’re Queen, we can get into a bunch of new types of antics, like shirking our duties to go on this picnic.”

“I’ll toast to that,” Gwen grins mischievously, before pulling an entire bottle of Camelot’s finest wine out of the picnic basket.

Merlin gasps in fake horror, “Guinevere, I cannot believe you! Stealing wine? I could never agree to this type of crime.”

Gwen drapes a hand over her forehead dramatically. “I know, I’m just horrid! What would the King do if he found out?”

“Nothing to you. He’d put me in the stocks for a few days, though!”

They take turns sipping from the wine bottle in silence for a bit, simply enjoying the calmness of the day and the subtle breeze brushing the plants.

Gwen suddenly speaks. “Arthur’s not really that bad to you, is he?”

“No, he’s not,” Merlin responds with honesty. “As much as I complain about him, which he rightly deserves by the way, he’s not that bad. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say I’ve grown a bit attached to the prat.”

Leaning in, the smell of wine on her breath, Gwen whispers, “Don’t tell him I said this, but I think he’s grown a bit attached to you, too.”

“Wait, did he mention something to you?! You _have to_ tell me. I need some more good blackmail material on him in case he threatens me with mucking out the stables, again.”

“I don’t remember anything exactly,” Gwen says, “but I can tell. He smiles a lot around you. And he always seems sadder when you leave.”

“Are we talking about the same Arthur?”

Gwen swats at him playfully. “It’s true! You just have this ability to make people happy, including me. I don’t know what I would do without these days. The stress of it all gets to me sometimes, but you always make me feel at ease.”

Merlin blushes, “It’s nothing, really. You make me feel happy, too, Gwen. I’m so glad we’re still such good friends.”

Gwen smiles in agreement, taking the offered wine bottle again to take another sip.

“You’re looking like Lord Richard now,” Gwen jokes. “And you might be stuck like that permanently if we stay out in the sun drinking wine for too long. How about we go see what we can do to mess with Arthur?”

“You read my mind.”


End file.
